This game defines what a great adventure should be like.
Presentation: The presentation in this game is unfathomable one of the best presentations in gaming, every single area you go through has so much depth to it, everything I mean literally every area you go through in this game is mind-blowingly beautiful. This is what every cartoon type looking game should try to attain when it comes to presentation. The ideas in these level designs have so much thought put into them, going back to this game really got me thinking, how did they think of all this stuff? I'll I can say is that the presentation is perfect could not have been done better.
Gameplay: Paper Mario is an Rpg Adventure game that is supposed to be the spiritual successor to Super Mario Rpg, My favorite game of all time is Mario Rpg, and you know what I still think Mario rpg is better, but I will say this, Paper Mario is nearly just as good and that's saying something for a sequel, there are some sequels that are even better than the game before it, but when you have a masterpiece like Mario rpg and then have a sequel that's nearly just as good just tells you that the developers who made this game were at their A game. As I mentioned this is a spiritual successor to Mario Rpg because Square made Mario Rpg, and Intelligent Systems made Paper Mario. The game play is an RPG system that is implemented through a badge system, the type of badges you collect will make you stronger and use up flower points which you can earn along with health and badge points when you level up by beating enemies, the RPG element is perfect. The gameplay is divided up into chapters, so I'll talk about each chapter.
Prologue A Plea To The Stars: this is basically just the beginning and you fight bowser and find out that he is invincible and you get you're @$$ handed to you, after this you learn you must collect the seven Star Spirits and Goombario joins your group and well he is an alright partner throughout the game but, he starts to become obsolete during the end. Chapter 1 Storming Koopa Bros Castle: The first star is in a castle area but before you enter the castle you will meet two new partners the first one is Kooper A koopa that also is just an alright partner there's nothing too special about his ability's but he will be a decent help in the beginning of the game. You also meet Bombette: A Bob-omb that is one of my favorite partners in this game and maybe the best her attack power is great against many enemies and she is a huge help against multiple enemies. The koopa castle is a great first level there are some tricky puzzles to go through and it's just an interesting level. The boss of this level is the Koopa Bros they are pretty easy and nothing too hard to handle, their a memorable boss because their pretty funny, but the boss battle itself is decent. Chapter 2 The Mystery of Dry Dry Ruins: this is a great level the only part I didn't like about this level is getting too it, but nothing too bad. You will meet a new partner by the name of Parakarry he is a Parakoopa and he is a good partner at the time but again in the end he's not too great. The boss of this level is Tutankoopa(ha ha got to love the creativity) He is pretty easy with Parakarry and he is a decent boss battle again. Chapter 3 The Invincible Tubba Blubba: This chapter is great, this is one of those dark subtle subject matter that Nintendo used to put in their games during their adolescence in gaming, basically the premise of the story of this chapter is that Tubba Blubba is the bad guy and that he is eating all the ghosts. Once you defeat him you find out the reason he was so evil was because the Boo's would always taunt him and scare him. Ponder this for a second this is basically one of those stories you would hear in reality like when a bully is picking on someone so much he goes berserk and snaps and starts killing a bunch of people, I can't be certain that this is what they were going for but it makes you wonder, and even though a lot of people might think this section is dark, I kind of like it, considering this was supposed to be a kid's game. But anyway I wanted to mention the level itself. It's basically Tubba Blubba's mansion and well it's an interesting level, you will meet Bow who can be a really huge help in this game. The boss battle with Tubba blubba will be very hard to the people who haven't played this game before but if you know what you are doing you shouldn't have too much trouble with him, and it's a great boss battle.
Chapter 4 Trials In The Toy Box: This one is good, nothing too bad you must go section to section through a toy train and find something to keep going through each section, the levels nothing too bad but not one of the better levels. You meet a new partner named Watt in this one, he is one of the most useful partners and will help you immensely during your journey in fact I actually used him in the final battle. The boss battle is General Guy(no I didn't make that up that's seriously his name lol) while it may look like an easy boss battle it can actually be quite a challenge. Chapter 4 is nothing too special but it still makes for a pretty good chapter. Chapter 5 Hot, Hot Times on LavaLava Island Before you start the actual chapter you must search for the baby Yoshi's throughout the island this part is… Well I'll be honest is probably the most annoying part in the game I always hate this part when I play the game, after you rescue the Yoshi baby's you will permanently partner up with Sushi the fish, She can be a huge help against multiple enemies and just in general is a great partner. The actual chapter is in a volcano and is quite a sight to see the Boss is the Lava Piranha, this boss can be incredibly strong, again if you do not know what you are doing, and even when you do know what you are doing he can be pretty strong also. Chapter 5 is another great chapter. Chapter 6 Dark Day's In Flower Field: This chapter perplexes me how did they think up this stuff, but I absolutely love this level. Basically the story of this level is that the sun won't come up to nurture the plants of flower field due to the fact that Huff and Puff the boss of this level has made a machine that covers the sky with clouds. You meet your final partner Lakilester(or Spike lol) he's a decent addition but there is nothing too special to him again I didn't use him too much. The final boss in Huff N Puff if you are not prepared for this guy he will mess you up, have a good strategy and you will beat him. Again another great boss battle. Chapter 6 may be my favorite chapter it's got great music, a great boss and an unbelievable envoirnment too it, Chapter 7 A Star Spirit On Ice: This one can be a bit of a pain, but there are also some great moments like when you must guess which copy is the real Kooper or Bombette. Or when Mario falls asleep during a really important speech lol. The boss is the Crystal King he is almost as hard as bowser, even if you are really good at this game you will definitely have quite a bit of trouble with him, he is an amazing boss. This chapter still is really fun to play and I really liked It
Chapter 8 A Star Powered Showdown: Here's the final showdown with bowser if you are not prepared he will crush you, this is it all or nothing, even playing this as much as I have had (which I've probably beaten it about fifteen times) I still will have a little bit of trouble against him if you are a new player it's going to take you a couple of times to beat him so be ready. The boss battle is phenomenal.
Overall Paper Mario is known too many as a great game but would they go as far to say the best on the Nintendo 64 even better than the fan favorite Ocarina of Time probably not, but most people who have played this game love it, and While I probably wouldn't say this is the best game on the N64 I would say it's definitely close and one of my top ten favorites of all time. Every gamer should experience this game.